Recently, there has been a lot of debate surrounding the athlete/non-athlete divide at Oberlin. I believe that one of the most preeminent ways students can bridge this so-called “divide” is by challenging themselves to enter new and possibly uncomfortable spaces. We should all be willing to put in the work to support other students’ interests and identities — whether this means going to a featured concert, attending a sports game, or taking a workshop on privilege and oppression. Bridging this so-called divide is contingent on how much each individual is willing to step outside of their own social circles and learn about others.
This past week, the Athletics department required all student-athletes to attend ...

“I have adhered to the Honor Code in this assignment.”
As students of Oberlin College, we are required to sign this pledge on every assignment we turn in. Yet this year, the Student Honor Committee has already doubled its total cases of potential Honor Code violations from last year.
Despite what many Oberlin students might think, the purpose of the committee is to educate — not punish — students who violate the Honor Code. The value of the Honor Code lies in its role of cultivating the kind of atmosphere of intellectual freedom and discourse that we hold so dear at Oberlin. If, as a student body, we fail to follow the Honor Code, we cannot possibly expect to uphold our institution’s core values of respect...

For thousands of years, museums have existed as the sole repositories of certain kinds of knowledge and culture. However, in this era of technological innovation and change, the sum of nearly all human knowledge, history, and widespread information can be accessed on the internet. Despite the leaps made by the likes of Google Images, technological innovations do not have to consign museums to obsolescence.
New technology that makes art more widespread can raise fears that no one will want to go to physical museums anymore. But a great deal of the technology that raises these fears — such as technology that allows for the reliable, inexpensive replication of artworks — can also be integrated into museum exhibiti...

To the Editors:
I write in response to Katie Lucey’s article last week (“College Lacks Opportunities to Study Business”). As a recent graduate and staff member of the Career Center, I wish to clarify some additional opportunities to study business and entrepreneurship and speak to Lucey’s insight into a fear of failure among students.
First, Lucey argues that Oberlin’s lack of major in business or entrepreneurship is a sign of limited opportunities to study these subjects. Oberlin actually created a program 13 years ago to help fill this gap: the Business Scholars program, which trains 12 students in business, finance and leadership fundamentals before sending them to learn firsthand from prominent alumni in ...

Cascading baubles of multicolored lights and hanging photographs of the cast and crew border the walls of a cozy South Hall studio, creating an intimate setting for Bright Half Life, an Oberlin Student Theater Association production exploring the trials of love.
The non-linear narrative is centered around an interracial lesbian couple’s nearly 50-year relationship, jumping between milestones like their first breakup, first child and first date as well as smaller, quiet moments that capture th...

Oberlin describes itself as an institution with “longstanding commitments to access, diversity, and inclusion,” according to its website. However, what Oberlin achieves in terms of commitment to social improvement, it lacks in academic paths for students who want to pursue a career in business or entrepreneurship.
Though there are a few classes for students to explore their interests in business offered within the Economics department such as Principles of Accounting, there is no official major in business or entrepreneurship. While Oberlin is a liberal arts school and should remain committed to offering a broad, comprehensive education, it can go a long way in providing course offerings that support students...

In art museums around the world, one warning sign is ubiquitous in every gallery: “Please do not touch the art.”
But what if a visitor’s sense of touch is the best way for them to interact with art? Institutions of culture and learning should offer programs that encourage a physical relationship between the viewer and the artwork —if not for all visitors, then certainly for blind and low-vision patrons. Most museums center their exhibitions and educational programming around nondisabled people. What most people tend to do at museums —that is, look at art —can be a difficult and sometimes impossible task for visitors with sensory disabilities. Traditional museum practices, like tours that require visitor...

Some say that love is a universal language. This idea was explored Monday evening at Love in Many Tongues, a multilingual poetry reading at Slow Train Cafe.
The Oberlin Center for Languages and Cultures organizes Love in Many Tongues each year as a way to promote the dozen languages offered at Oberlin — as well as others not offered — while simultaneously celebrating Valentine’s Day. Oberlin students, faculty and community members read poems and sang songs in a wide array of languages — r...

Students and community members looking to celebrate Black History Month should consider the Oberlin Heritage Center, which is offering a free, digitized version of its walking tour, Freedom’s Friends: Underground Railroad and Abolitionist History Walk, throughout the month of February.
Visitors to the Monroe House, located on West Vine Street, can borrow tablets preloaded with the tour for the day. These tablets allow users to explore Oberlin’s ties to the Underground Railroad and slaves’ journeys...